Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The 1960's FamilySimilar to the idea of the perfect marriage of the early 20th century which Zeena and Ethan failed so miserably- George and Martha fail the 1960's idea of the perfect family. Media such as Sitcoms Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best hammered into the American public head what a perfect family consisted of: two happily married parents with a money-earning, working father and a happy housewife caring for happy children. The balance of these established roles created a perfect family harmony. In fact, data shows that 65% of children in the year 1960 lived in a family like this, know as the "Leave it to Beaver ideal."

George and Martha, as well as Nick and Honey, fail to live up to this ideal American family. The housewife is not happy, the husband is not dominant and providing, and both couples cannot have, or fail to have, children. The pressure to meet this ideal is evident by Martha attempting to fill in the role of the dominant, providing, and successful husband which passive George leaves open. She "wears the pants ... because somebody has to!" Martha tries to 'fix' their broken marriage by filling the missing role; however, she merely abandons her role of the happy housewife in doing so and hates George for, as she sees, failing their perfect 1960's marriage. George is a "great big, fat flop" to Martha's desire to be happy in marriage, her desire to for George to come home from work and kiss her. She asks him "why won't you kiss me?" in an attempt to make George sympathize with this desire, but he is too much of a "flop" to notice. Additionally, her desire to have happy children is evident by her brining up of "the kid," their likely nonexistent son. George warns her "don't bring up the [son]" because he too is embarrassed by their failure to meet the social standard. He blames Martha's infertility for their failure to create a perfect family, informing Nick with obvious disdain, "my wife doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all." George and Martha blame each other for what both of them see as a failed marriage; neither of them believe in an atypical marriage. This perceived failure, resulting from societal propagations of a perfect family, accounts for a significant portion of their mutual hostility as well as the actual collapse of their marriage.
http://www.livescience.com/47681-normal-american-family-a-myth.htmlhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-average-american-has-changed-since-the-1960s-2012-7?op=1

Connection to Ethan Frome
Just like George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Ethan and Zeena fail to meet the social norm for marriage during their time period and failure to accept this fact results in the amplification of their problems. Martha treats George horribly and embodies such an arrogant, bold personality, in a sense taking the role of the man of the house, because George does not. She "wears the pants" because "somebody has to." Martha, no doubt influenced by the 1960's ideal of a 'perfect' family, is tortured by George's passiveness, and attempts to compensate for it by taking the role of the dominant male, which society propagated was part of a healthy, normal family. George's failure to be the man of the house prevents Martha from becoming the happy housewife. Likewise, Zeena does not follow the early 20th century role of a perfect, happy housewife. She is selfish and complains, a "fretter." Ethan, just like George, is passive, failing to be the man of the house. He lives in his dreams, and fails to act on his ambitions. The closest he ever gets to having guts is when he clenches a fist at Zeena as if to punch her, but she never feels (or even sees) his fist. Ethan and Zeena, just like George and Martha, cannot live openly as an atypical couple because society would shun them. They cannot divorce because society would shun that too. Pressure to meet social standards which both couples fail results in extreme tension in their marriages, and ultimately is a key piece to the core of their communication issues.

Questions for the Socratic Seminar

• Why does neither Ethan Frome nor Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf have a clear hero and villain? What are Albee and Wharton suggesting about society by this choice?
• Are Nick and Honey destined to become just like George and Martha?
• There are lots of references to childishness and silliness in the movie and since the movie parallels the cold war- such a seemingly adult conflict between two superpowers- do we agree with Ablee's implication that the cold war was childish? Was the cold war based on illusion and games? Could it have been resolved with simple communication?
• How on earth could George and Martha have fallen in love in the first place? Is that what Nick and Honey are in the story to demonstrate?
• Why do Ethan and Zeena never reach the closure that Martha and George seem to reach in the end? Or do they?
• Can one side of both marriage conflicts (eg one person) be blamed for the problems?
• Why was Martha the first to crack and break down? What does Ablee suggest about George by this choice and the fact that even as she starts to break down he continues the game?
• Did Ethan and Zeena live an illusion like George and Martha?
• The isolation of Starkfield certainly played a pivotal role in Ethan and Zeena's conflict. What role did the university setting play in George and Martha's?

Seminar Reflection
Our seminar repeatedly elaborated on the topic of the evident power struggle between George and Martha. Analyzing Amiah’s suggestion that George tried to warn, even help, Nick regarding the conflict which results in a marriage at the university, we determined that on the contrary, George merely wanted power over Nick. We also discovered George’s manipulative ways towards Martha were all about gaining power over her. As Adam pointed out, he kept pouring her more and more drinks, satisfied by her seeming dependence on him for the drowning of her sorrows and the destructive effects which Martha made George think the alcohol had on her. Furthermore, I noticed that George seldom outright loses his cool, and the few times he does it is to gain control over a situation, such as yelling “silence!” (Albee) in the bar. Likewise, Martha is after power over George; she tells embarrassing stories of his past to make him vulnerable and seem weak, especially stories of her father’s power over, and rejection of, George. Perry referenced one story which leaves George particularly vulnerable: the one of him refusing to box with Martha’s father and her father’s reply to his refusal, “Come on, young man! What sort of a son-in-law are you?” (Albee). This story embarrasses George by highlighting the one thing he can’t stand: powerlessness. Martha, through her father and knowledge of George’s embarrassing past, has power over George. He can’t live with himself for this lack of power so tries to manipulate the power back into his own hands through alcohol and through beating Martha at her own games.

A question which arose at the table from this analysis, but was not fully elaborated on, is with regards to whether the power struggle set the foundation for their destructive games, or whether their destructive games set the foundation for the power struggle. I believe there is an element of truth to both statements. All relationships, especially marriages, are a power struggle. Healthy relationships, such as most marriages, properly balance the powers within that relationship. In the opening page of Orson Scott Card’s novel Xenocide, Card analyzes the nature of this balance of power in marriage. He states men and women have completely different strengths and desires, even suggesting “male and female are separate species” (Card 11). He also claims that an individual marries one who completes them by possessing power in an area where they do not, “humans mate with beings who challenge their supremacy,” to “complete” each other. (Card 12). Card explains the traditional ‘opposites attract’ idea as a way for husband and wife to complete each other, much like opposing charges which balance an atom. George and Martha, like all males and females, have opposing desires and needs. I believe their destructive games prevent their opposing charges from balancing. George and Martha cannot balance power like a traditional 1960’s marriage, with Martha as the happy housewife and George as the successful, pioneering businessman. Martha “doesn’t go up [get pregnant]” and therefore cannot have children, and George is a “big, fat, flop,” who can’t take over the history department nor get his books published. Their failure to balance power traditionally leaves them lost and confused, so they invented games to cope with their failure, to take “refuge” when the world “sits too heavy” (Albee). These games only turned their opposing masculine and feminine needs against each other and stimulated a great power struggle. I believe George and Martha’s destructive games, invented to cope with their failure to balance power in a traditional 1960’s manner, set the foundation for their struggle for power, not the reverse.

Another topic which was discussed briefly at the seminar is the fact that Zeena and Ethan in Ethan Frome fail to recognize their destructive marriage and move on. John brought up the Wharton’s own destructive marriage and eventual divorce, leading us to believe that Ethan Frome is a novel warning reader of the dangers when one fails to recognize mistakes and does not attempt to heal them. Ethan and Zeena never discuss their problems, never make a move heal their marriage, nor ever make a move to end it. Martha and George’s similar failure to face their problems set the foundation for the illusion which guides Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This too connects to Orson Scott Card’s Xenocide. He claims that growing up is not the ability to be perfect; rather, growing up is the ability to recognize and work to resolve mistakes, “they [people] are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them” (Card 89). George, Martha, Zeena, and Ethan all are childish and unwise because they fail to recognize and resolve their mistakes. As James pointed out, Albee symbolizes his character’s immaturity by George and Martha referring to each other as “baby,” talking in sweet voices, and their obnoxious actions, such as Martha riding George like a horse at the beginning of the move. Ethan and Zeena are immature in the same manner. Both couple’s lack of wisdom to recognize the problems and mistakes in their marriages result in the amplification and continuation of conflict between them; the four characters may be adults, but they have not matured.

Notes and Quotes:
Truth vs Reality and Illusion

• There is a dark undercurrent to the music which sounds like it could be beautiful- short dissonant blips
• Painting in the office has a "quiet intensity"
• "just playing a game"

Marriage and Family

• "what a dump"
• "[George] never do anything ... just sit around and talk"
• Martha doesn't really clean up the miss but rather fails at hiding it
• "why won't you kiss me?"
• "the way to a man's heart is through is wife"
• 
  
• Martha "doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all"
  • Her infertility means they can't be the perfect american family
• "I wear the pants in the house because somebody has to" Martha
  • She wants george to be the man of the house so she can be the happy housewife

American dream; Materialism and success worship

• George has failed success- Martha's father wouldn't publish his book
  • "daddy wouldn't let him"
• He is a "flop"
• "it was fine" at the university environment
• George tells nick that Martha's father never lets people leave the university
  • Professional ambition can trap people like it has George and Martha
• Martha knocked him out, embarrassing him before all of his colleagues
• The one to take over the history department "won't be George" as according to martha
  • method of attack because it is where he is vulnerable
• George and martha's marriage "seemed practical"

History vs Biology debate

• George mocks that biology will turn everybody the same by rearranging chromosomes- everybody perfect
  • He feels imperfect and expresses his jealousy for those who are maybe?

Their made-up son

• "Don't bring up the bit [about the kid]"
• Martha brings him up first breaking the "rule"
• George tells nick "that's for me to know and you to find out"
• "the little bugger" according to martha
• Discuss how he might not be George's son
• George yells that the son is "him not it!"
• 
  
• "doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all"
  • Her infertility means they can't be the perfect american family
• Martha "never cornered the son of a bitch in my life"

Alcohol

• George keeps pouring Martha more drinks even though Martha pretends like it messes her up
  • She only eats the Ice
• Honey is by far the most affected
• "half filled glasses all over the house wherever martha leaves them" - George

Power

• George can't kiss Martha because he'd "have to take you by force"
• "daddy knows how to run things" - Daddy holds the power in their marriage, not George
• Both husbands don't support their wives with manly strength or kindness
• "build a government ... to the point where there is something to lose"
• George yells "silence!" with furry - he needs control over the situation
  • Just like when he yelled "vanish"
• "I tried ... I wear the pants in the house because somebody has to!" said Martha
• Nick trips and falls when running away from George after their talk at the swing
  • George also seemed satisfied during earlier chat with nick when he got angry
• "A drowning man takes down those nearest."

Conflict

• Don't hold hands in opening seen and there is gap between them
• "what"
• Frequently ask for each other to repeat things because they can't hear each other
• "You're [Martha] always springing things on me"
• "don't you [George] know anything"
• Martha chooses to attack George's intelligence
• George "will not light your [Martha's] cigarette"
• "I'd imagine she [Martha] wants to be comfortable" when she changes her clothes. George responds "we'll see about that!" angrily
• Shoots Martha with umbrella gun to symbolize escalation of their conflict
• Revert to games, lies, and secret sharing to manipulate each other out a desire for attention and comfort
• "build a government ... to the point where there is something to lose"
• George won't dance with martha - "not with him [Nick] around"
• Martha has "been trying for years to clean up the mess ive made"
• "Try and I'll beat you at your own game" - George to martha

Language: learning, wit, and humor

Escape into past or future

• Moon comes full circle at the beginning and end of story
• "dashed hopes and good intentions. good, better, best, bested" is what happened to George at the university
• George is literally "in" the history department "preoccupied"
• Talks about history to Nick regarding Martha- he is not the first to use her for business purposes

George

• More composed walking in opening scene
• "never do anything ... just sit around and talk"
• Has a painting of "quiet intensity"
• Seems satisfied by angering nick
• He fails at being a prince charming- can't make his princess happy
• "preoccupied" with history
• sulks outside to lure Nick out as he claims
  • Or did Martha and Nick's supposed kiss have an effect on hiim
• Says "he would" go to institution for hysterical women if he were Martha
  • No help for 1960's man
• "sneaky types ... you intellectuals"
  • This is how George keeps power
• George's novel about the boy who killed his parents "pretends it's all an accident"
  • Martha says george claimed it "really happened to me"
• "cruel and vicious" for telling stories of the past
• George hates Daddy. Not for anything Daddy's done to him, but for his own... Inadequacies?
• I [Martha] looked at you and you [George] weren't there!"
• "A drowning man takes down those nearest" said Martha

Martha

• Erratic walking in opening scene
• Scarfs down chicken wing
• "always springing things on me [George]"
• Rides on top of George like a kid
• "why won't you kiss me"
• Places hand on Nick's knee as if to lure him in
• "wants to be comfortable" as Honey says
  • Martha just wants comfort and attention from George- he cant provide it
• She is loud and obnoxious and pretends to be insensitive but has moments of vulnerability
• Have a college degree
• "doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all"
  • Her infertility means they can't be the perfect american family
• "been trying for years to clean up the mess i've made"
  • She sees their failed marriage as her fault?
• Calls herself a bitch - "I never cornered the son of a bitch [her son]"
• "a romantic at heart"
• "tired of whipping you ... It's not what I wanted!"
• "Once a month ... We get Misunderstood Martha, the good-hearted girl beneath the barnacles."
  • See a few quotes up... trying to get george's attention for a long time

Nick

• "young, well-built man ... of course" A prince charming maybe
• Has to get wacked by Honey before he compliments house
• Sits far away from honey and scoots away from her
• George keeps mistaking him for being head of math department
  • His attempts at getting to Martha for professional ambition is a formula for disaster
  • "represent a threat to me [George]"
• "I didn't say I was deaf. I said I didn't understand"
• Trips and falls as he runs away from George after their talk on the swing
• George says to him: "you ineffectual sons of bitches, you're the worst"
• We want to wait a little, until we're settled.

Honey

• Arrives to their house drunk
  • Slurs words and hurls in restroom
• Compliments house a couple times
• Is in the background of a camera shot with Martha and Nick
• "frail" as according to Nick
• "she does throw up alot"
• Father was "man of lord" who baptized people
• Had a hysterical pregnancy which is when a woman wants desperately to be pregnant and tricks body into thinking so
• "I want some dancing!" while totally drunk
  • Dancing symbolic for their games
• "Look at me ... I'm all puffed up!"

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Appearances

• Martha rides on top George chanting it childishly
• George dances with Honey chanting the phrase loudly to drown out Martha's tales of how he failed to impress Martha's father

Insults to George (all quotes)

• daddy said so
• don't you know anything
• cluck
• idiot
• dumb
• stupid
• fool
• sourpussy
• moffmonkey?
• old bog in history department
• swampy, swampy!
• flousie
• it, that, there
• great, big, fat, flop
• son of a bitch
• convoluted ... talk like you're writing one of your papers
• You wouldn't say that if he was here. You're a coward!
• "I swear, if you existed, I'd divorce you."

Stories of the past

• At the first university party George refuses to box with Martha's father so she punches him and knocks him out in front of everybody
  • Father taunts George "what sort of a son and law are you?!"
  • Martha embarrassed him before all of his colleagues
• George talks about a boy who accidentally killed father in car crash because of being hung over from a night of alcohol
  • When he asked for a glass burgeon they all "laughed ... and everyone started ordering burgeon and laughing ... it lasted a long time"
    • Perhaps parallel to embarrassment he faced from colleagues or a hard past for George
  • The boy has spent last 30 years in an "asylum" and hasn't spoken in last 30 years
• Plays "get the guest" by telling secret stories from their past- a "cruel and vicious" game

Major Quotes
"It snapped- the whole arrangement" "Snap! ... just don't give a damn any more" Martha
"You [George] can stand it [humiliation]. It's why you married me!" Martha said
George responds to above statement "thats a desperately sick lie"
"Great, big, fat, flop ... old bog in the history department" George is according to martha
"Martha "doesn't go up [get pregnant] at all""
"I tried ... I wear the pants in the house because somebody has to" Martha does